it's his home state, california. 45 electoral votes. ronald reagan picks up his home state of california. he has never lost a race there. and we fill in a big chunk of the map once again with blue. now solid blue practically all the way from the mississippi river westward leaving only oregon, washington and arkansas as you can see. >> beginning to look like a suburban swimming pool over there. >> even in the east. >> sherman oaks i'd say by the way. >> even in the east, reagan is ahead. go ahead and have a look at this. >> the electoral vote, ronald reagan pushing heart at 400 electoral votes. no one was saying that just a couple of days ago. >> flash forward to now. we are here in democracy plaza, home of decision 2012 coverage. on election night we are expecting thousands to gather behind me here. the iconic rockefeller skating rink will have a map of the u.s. there you see it in place. states will be iced over in red or blue as the race is called by the nbc news decision desk. red and blue banned ins representing electoral votes will